Editing Paradise Lost (section)

===God the Father===
[[God the Father]] is the creator of Heaven, Hell, the world, of everyone and everything there is, through the agency of His Son. Milton presents God as all-powerful and all-knowing, as an infinitely great being who cannot be overthrown by even the great army of angels Satan incites against him. Milton portrays God as often conversing about his plans and his motives for his actions with the Son of God. The poem shows God creating the world in the way Milton believed it was done, that is, God created Heaven, Earth, Hell, and all the creatures that inhabit these separate planes from part of Himself, not out of nothing.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lehnhof|2004|p=15}}.</ref> Thus, according to Milton, the ultimate authority of God over all things that happen derives from his being the "author" of all creation. Satan tries to justify his rebellion by denying this aspect of God and claiming self-creation, but he admits to himself the truth otherwise, and that God "deserved no such return / From me, whom He created what I was".<ref>{{Harvnb|Milton|1674}}, [[s:Paradise Lost/Book IV#40|4.42–43]].</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Lehnhof|2004|p=24}}.</ref>